Life is but a dream
by Mr Emerid
Summary: Marvel goes to the beach..but meets a few cards along the way..


LIFE IS BUT A DREAM  
  
  
  
Life is strange, There's no avoiding that fact. If it wasn't, we'd all have died of boredom a long time ago, or just let wild animals eat us alive. Yet, while Life Is Strange, in some way it is balanced and can kick your ass anytime it wants. It let's you KNOW when you've pissed it off in some way or another, But how it does it, well that's its choice. Maybe it's when you get shoved off a cliff, or get run over by a bus.  
Luckily god didn't choose any of those as Life's way of telling me I fucked up like many Hollywood Couples.  
  
  
I was sitting on the bus, Playing some cards on our way to the Watchtower. What's the watchtower, you ask? Well! Basically it's….  
A Lighthouse. Yeah you heard me, a Lighthouse.  
It's a good five miles outside of town, hence the Field trip, and I was looking forward to relaxin' out in the sun, maybe get in a little swimming, or a tan. Oh yeah, today was the day to get a tan and pick up some chicks. Or so Josh kept telling me.  
"I'm telling you, ladies go crazy for Tans! It's like their kryptonite!"  
"That's what you said about weight training."  
"…It helped you pick up more girls didn't it?" Dammit, I hate it when he makes sense.  
"…Yeah…"  
"So the Tan will SEAL the deal!"  
"I think getting a tan will burn off whatever Brain cells you got left." I said dryly, shuffling the cards.  
"Dude, have I ever steered you wrong?"  
"….You want me to name all twenty four in Alphabetical or Chronological order?"   
"……Well This time'll be different!"  
"I got my Parents to sign this to do ONE THING ONLY. The Most noble deed I have ever done in my life.."  
"What's that?"  
"Beat the living Shit out of Katrina in Volleyball."  
"….But she's hot."  
"Maybe, but she's also a bitch. She's been riding my ass even more lately since the entire Sand Card incident."  
"Well….you DID steal it.."  
"Possession is nine tenths of the law. Besides, If I hadn't I wouldn't be sitting here right now. I'd be a broken man in a hospital bed with all my limbs in some sling."  
"….Even though that's true, All I'm saying is maybe you should return it." I was about to reply with a crushing verbal remark, but instead my Backpack started moving around, muffled noises coming from it.  
Damn he was a persistent bastard, Wasn't he?  
"KERO!!!" I hissed, grabbing up my backpack and unzipping it. Sure enough, that Rat Bastard was inside my packed lunch, munching away at my Sandwich.  
"You are one HUNDRED percent Rat Bastard!" I growled softly. He Just looked up at me and grinned an evil grin that would serve to piss me off more.  
"Hey, Think I'd pass up a free picnic with free food?" He asked me indignantly, proceeding to finish my sandwich in one bite.  
"I think I'll pass on letting you live and Just kill you now.." I growled. I reached in after him, but the Bus let loose a hiss and stopped completely. He Grinned up at me and simply stuck a tongue out at me while pulling an eye down.  
What the hell does that mean anyway?  
"I'll get you LATER…" I grumbled, then zipped the backpack up and picked it up then reached farther down and picked up another bag full of food. I now thanked my decision to not stuff it in my backpack as well, because it would have gotten eaten by that DAMN RAT!! Ahg, he was proving to be a pain so far…  
So, we loaded off the Bus single file and went to the side compartment, where they handed out any bags we had. I took a basket that was mine, then Katrina pushed me out of the way and picked up her green bag. I hate a person who shove people around, that sounds like bullies in my opinion.  
"Get Ready to go DOWN Kat Show.."  
"It's Katrina Showron, and I'll take pleasure in spiking it into your head, UN-Marvelous THIEF." She sneered, then turned her back to me and trotted off towards the beach. I narrowed my eyes, then looked for Josh, who was flirting with two Blondes with…ah….Hmmm…..Large assets in swimsuits.  
I may curse a lot, but I shall not so crude and crass as to refer to them as some slang talking Jerk.  
I waited for about two minutes, then counted down.  
"Five…four…three…two…"   
WHACK! WHACK!   
Josh got slapped not once, but twice and the blondes stalked off, leaving Josh holding his face and a look of pain on his face. I walked over to him, sporting a large grin across my face.  
Hey, after Dealing with Katrina nothing Cheers me up more than watching Josh fall flat on his ass when dealing with women. Yup, instant cure for depression there.  
"So did you ask them for a date, ask them if they're breasts were real, or just ask if they'd like to go skinny dipping with you?"   
"Date……and Skinny dipping…"  
"Uh HUH…." So, after I said that my Backpack started to wiggle around again, so I unzipped it and Let Kero out. He looked at all the people, then quickly climbed back in to my amazement.  
"..Why are you hiding?"  
"…These people will Freak out if they see me!"  
"…Josh, go help get the net ready while I explain the dynamics of America these days to Kero.."  
"Gotcha…" And So Josh walked off, and I headed to the Lighthouse to change into my trunks, holding my backpack open.  
"Kero…They won't freak out."  
"Yes they will!" He insisted.  
"Kero…When was the Last cardcaptor you tagged around with?"  
"…About Ten, twelve years ago…why?"  
"This is the Millennium. This is PAST the Millennium for Christ's sake…"  
"What's that got to do with it?"  
"Did anyone freak out the last few card Captures we've had? The Park with the Sand card?" I asked, looking down at him.  
"…..Come to think of it no…"  
"WHERE was the last Card Captor you Taught?"  
"….America.."  
"This is America twelve or so years later. We don't freak over tiny gold rats with wings if we see them flying around. Hell, we probably won't notice, because we've seen weirder and SCARIER shit outside our WINDOWS…"  
"Like WHAT…"  
"Chihuahua's.."  
"Alright name something else.."  
"Gang Rapes."  
"…Dammit…I'm still not coming out."  
"..Lemme prove this to you…HEY JOE!" I waved a blonde haired guy over, then opened the backpack wide.  
"Look! A golden Rat with wings!!"  
"…What an odd Mutation.." He mused for a second, then walked off. Kero popped out of the bag, looked at the retreating kid, then at me.  
"…He's not very smart right?"  
"Top of our classes."  
"……DAMN you Americans are screwy people these days…" He muttered, floating out of the bag.  
"We try…" I said simply, then changed into my Swim trunks and Tank top.  
  
  
  
  
"Your ass equals grass Kat!" I yelled, jumping and spiking the ball over the net.   
We were each a team of a five on both sides of the net. Josh and I were teamed with three others guys, while Kat was teamed with the girls. I'll admit, she wasn't bad at hitting the ball since I was having a hard time keeping up with her. She jumped up and intercepted the ball, smacking it back over to our side. Josh jumped up and headbutted it over the net again, and a girl butted it right back.  
This was an intense game! We were tied at four a piece, and I was intent on beating Katrina. That girl had rubbed me the wrong way ever since we met, and this was a chance to show her up in front of the class, and I'd be damned if I'd miss it.  
I jumped in the air hard, and smacked my fist into it as hard as I could toward Katrina's head, Knowing perfectly well she couldn't POSSIBLY block it in time.  
Damn, but I was wrong.  
She jumped and swung her leg into it, sending it rebounding directly into my head like a baseball.  
Keep in mind this was no pansy rubber inflatable Volley ball, oh no! This one was as hard as a tether ball and slightly bigger going maybe some odd number miles per hour, and connectedly SOUNDLY with my head with a large thunk.  
Damn my school and it's large budget! This is the one time I cursed them buying a quality ball, because I fell on my back promptly onto something, dazed beyond belief and suddenly feeling blackness envelope me.  
Aw cripes, I thought, I was knocked out by Katrina!  
That was my first thought. This was my second..  
'Hey..why am I still awake then?'  
It's true too! I was perfectly aware of everything…well…except that All I saw was black and I couldn't hear or see anything…  
For about two seconds, then Suddenly Everything around me materialized so I was on the Lighthouse, way up high on the platform surrounding the light.  
It was dark, and my hands were cold as I gripped the steel bar around the platform. I looked out at the cliffside…and Saw myself surrounded in Clow cards.  
"…What…" I muttered, looking out as the cards kept swirling around him…me….whatever…  
The figure that…looked like me waved a hand and the cards were scattered to the wind, replaced instead by….a Figure with angel wings and silvery hair.  
"…..YOU…" I heard Me Say in amazement. He reached out and touched the other me's forehead, then vanished in a blaze of blue. The other me nodded, then turned…and looked directly at me in the lighthouse!! He seemed to just float over as I tried to move backwards in fright, but my feet seemed rooted to the spot by some invisible force. AS he neared closer, he held out his hand until he was so close it nearly touched my face..  
And then he Slapped me.  
He...SLAPPED…ME.  
"OWWW!! What was that for??" I cried indignantly, the lighthouse and the surroundings vanishing back into blackness, all that is except the mirrored version of myself.  
"You Idiot…" He said, pointing at me.  
"What'd I do?"  
"Your deal with The Monster card!!"  
"…How do you…oh yeah…you seem to be me.."  
"No I'm the Side of you that knows What you did was WRONG…the side of you that actually knows how to use the magic of the Clow!!" He said, reaching forward and grabbing my shoulders.  
Man, it was creepy seeing myself like that. Almost enough to make me shit my shorts…  
"You're deal CHANGED THE RULES!!" He said desperately, staring at me with a mix of Shame and Despair.  
"What do you mean?"  
"You upset the balance! The Rules that the Card Captors originally held to have been Shattered!! You've disrupted the very order of the world!" He berated, looking me directly in the eyes.  
"..I don't believe you..where am I?" I said in puzzlement.  
"You're in a dream Caused by the Dream card, and I'm here to tell you that what you did completely Fucked the rules."  
"..You ARE me.."  
"No Duh man. You shit on the rules when you aligned yourself with The Monster card, and now the Cards aren't playing by the rules anymore EITHER!!"  
"….How can you be so sure?"  
"THINK Shithead! The Power card, The Illusion, The Twin…They ganged up on you! No Card has ever done that! You teamed with your opposite, Your Nemi…Nami…Nemisi…ENEMY, a thing that has never been done in the History of the Clow, and it sent the old rules to the fucking wind! Now the Cards are not bound by the old rules!!" Geez, he really was me! He was overstating his point!   
But his point…I had broken the rules? The Clow cards had Ganged up on me…And Kero had said himself that they never had done that before…Oh man….I HAD fucked up!! Oh man…God really throws curveballs don't he?  
"I get the point! I Get it! I don't think I was wrong in choosing not to get pummeled by The Monster card…But I will take responsibility for Screwing with the order of things….So are you here to tell me how to set it right?" I looked at myself in earnest. He looked at me in hopelessness... and slowly started to vanish. My eyes widened in shock at this.  
"I can't really tell you that…but they can.." He said, pointing behind me and vanishing completely. I gasped, taking all this in for a moment, then turned slowly.  
Holy hell I was greeted with a surprise!  
I saw Two woman, one with a white type of ornamental costume on and some sort of crown apon her head. The other one…was the same except with black colors. I felt the familiar twinging in my head as I looked at them…  
"….You're Clow Cards…" I said in realization. They nodded, smiling softly at me.  
"Thomas Marvel…We are the Light and Dark cards…" I looked at them closely, trying to decide if they were part of this dream or not.  
This was some scary shit…  
"…You aren't Part of this dream…are you?"  
"No…We have been a PART of you…"  
"What?"  
"We are the Light and Dark cards…And we have been hidden inside you ever since you opened the Clow…"  
"… I didn't Open the Clo--"  
"Don't start that again." The Dark card said, pointing at me as she interrupted.   
"…Right sorry…anyway…How do I set the balance right again and make sure the Cards don't go Ganging up on me again?" They simply looked at me with the same look of hopelessness that the Other me had given me.  
"You can't…You simply must go with the flow and try to survive Thomas Marvel, You must reap what you have sown."  
"Already, The Firey and Earthy Cards have started aligning themselves with other cards, forming a contingent to face you. They are taking advantage of what you have wrought upon yourself."  
"..You mean...They're formin' an army to get me?"  
"Army would mean that dozens of cards…They are just forming together with the most powerful Cards they could Find…" The Light card said.  
"They are a group of Seven already….and Are planning to strike against you soon."  
"How soon is soon?"  
"Within a month." Shit.  
"Thomas Marvel, we do not have any anger or malice towards you as the other cards do, we just want to be together.." Oh man this sounded wrong.  
"…You and The Dark card are…."  
"Lovers or sisters…it really doesn't matter.."  
"What matters is that while you have wrought this situation apon yourself, you need to take full advantage that there are no rules anymore…"  
"…..I understand.." I said slowly, thinking about this a moment.  
"You must keep your Friends close..and your enemies closer for the coming battle Thomas Marvel…Now please…Capture us so we can aid you.." The Dark card siad slowly, waving an arm. Instantly, the Wand appeared in my hand. Hey, two new cards? I can hang with that. Besides…I had a feeling I'd be needing them in the near future.  
"….Thank you…."  
"Take responsibility Thomas…and Godspeed…" The Light card said as I raised the wand and swung it down.  
"Light Card..Dark card..Return to your powers Confined!" IN a Swirl of Light, no pun intended, They grew into rectangular cards and the entire blackness that surrounded me seemed to vanish….and I could hear voices.  
"Thomas? Thomas can you hear me?" I felt my eyes open…and I saw Josh and Katrina looking over me with Kero on my gut. I looked at them in a bit of confusion, then narrowed my eyes and said exactly what we needed to do.  
"We're gonna need a bigger boat…"  
  
…Did you expect me to say We're All gonna die? This is my story dammit, and I can say whatever crazy, out of this world shit I want. I mean, I had gotten Out of this world Shit thrown on me already with this Clow thing. I needed a plan…  
And I got me a doozy in mind.  



End file.
